The collection consists of three digital objects: two handwritten diaries (1864-1865) and an undated portrait of Henry O. Nightingale with his saber and Union hat. An abolitionist, Nightingale joined the Northern army at the start of the Civil War in 1861. In 1862 he joined the 108th New York Infantry Regiment. He fought in a dozen battles, including Gettysburg, and was promoted to corporal on March 1, 1864. A majority of entries in both diaries describe the weather and Nightingale’s daily activities during his military service. Towards the front of the 1864 diary is a foldout assemblage of several newspaper articles and poems. The 1864 diary also includes descriptions of company and regimental movement, and of particular note is a description of Nightingale’s injury during the Battle of the Wilderness in May of 1864, and the subsequent near amputation of his left arm. Following this injury he spent 13 months in recovery at Stanton General Hospital in Washington D.C. Of significant note to the 1865 diary is a first hand account of Abraham Lincoln's assassination at Ford's Theatre. Nightingale was released from the hospital on June 2nd, 1865, and he married on July 6th, 1865. Two letters from Nightingale to Gertrude Taylor, a pen pal during the time of Nightingale’s stay at Stanton, are available from the Falvey Memorial Library’s Nagy collection at Villanova University.